Karen y Ricardo (‘World of Dance’) made history in the first round, so how did they do during The Duels? [WATCH]

Karen y Ricardo came to the “World of Dance” Duels with arguably the highest expectations of any dance act this season. That’s because in the very first episode of the Qualifiers they gave a performance that earned them not only the highest score of the season, but the highest score recorded in two seasons of the show so far. They averaged 99.7 — just short of perfection.

So when the Duels started they had their choice of opponents, and they picked a team with a similar background, fellow cabaret ballroom dancers Luka and Jenalyn. How did the record-breakers do? Watch their performance above, and read the judges’ comments below.

Jennifer Lopez: “I get so nervous watching you guys. I don’t know why I get so nervous, but it’s so solid. At the same time I want to dance with you. I want to go and dance too — take me, let’s do it! It is so incredible to watch you guys.”

Derek Hough: “You guys are competition dancers, and it shows on this floor. It’s insane what you do. I think I counted like 34 turns over here, and then you let go! And you’re like, ‘I don’t need you anymore.’ The tricks you do are death-defying. You dropped her — I’ve seen that move before, but the way you did it was you did it where her head was half an inch off the floor and she almost died!”

Ne-Yo: “I was definitely on the edge of my seat. I’m like, one false move and somebody goes to the hospital — one false move.”

Luka and Jenalyn gave them a run for their money with an average score of 92.3, but despite their best efforts they were blown out of the water by Karen y Ricardo, who didn’t match their first-round score, but came remarkably close, averaging 98.3 from the judges. They’re on their way to the next round, and if they keep it up they might be unstoppable all the way to the World Final at the end of the season. They have now posted the two highest scores of the season. Did you agree with their high marks and the judges verdict in this Duel?